Rotary drier



March 17, 1931.

W. A. HARTY ET AL ROTARY DRIER Filed Oct. 24, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 figvelzlons WfiIIal/aZHam mlzkmoom Wm-ch 17, 1931' w. A. HARTY ET AL ROTARY DR I ER Filed Oct. 24/ 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ila/010201? m7! Maw Patented Mar. 17, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NEW YORK, AND FRANK W. TO HARMOR 8'0 CO. INC., 0F BUFFALO,

or rnozaonn, NEW YORK, A

moons,

ROTARY DRIER Application filed October 24,

In the development of the hot mandrel rotary drier, and particularly in the adaptation of such drier to the needs of the various industries, certain problems of installation are encountered. lVe have shown in our prior patents, Reissue No. 16,265, of February 6, 1926, and N 0. 1,587,727, of January 8, 1926, hot mandrel rotary driers of the general type involved herein, and our present invention represents certain improvements upon, and refinements over, the drier described in said prior patents, while however retaining all the advantages of our previous drier as regards efficiency of drying action, wide range of heat control, and increased speed of operation.

One feature of our present invention relates to the assembly of the drier to the end that a conveniently portable drier may be had which will eliminate the necessity of concrete or other foundations of a permanent character in the installation of the drier. This simplifies installation costs and permits the location of the drier to be changed quickly and conveniently.

Another feature of our invention relates to the means for supporting the central heating core or mandrel within the shell whereby the effects of expansion and contraction are overcome in a simple and eficient man-- ner.

A further feature of our invention relates to an attachment for utilizing the exhaust heat from the hot core or mandrel to increase the operating e'fliciency of the drier. To this end, the drier is provided with a heat return deflector or baflie which returns the heat back through the drier, thereby not only augmenting the drier action but carrying off the vapors created by the more or less wet material admitted at the intake end of the drier.

Other features of our invention relate to the drier drive to the end that'the drive may be a direct drive assembled as a self-con tained unit with one of the special steel bases which supports the drier assembly.

These, and various other features of improvement and advantage which will ap-' pear more particularly hereinafter, are sebearing for 1927. Serial No. 228,212.

cured in the drier of the present invention.

The construction and operation of our drier is described and illustrated in the accompanying specification and drawings, and the characteristic features of novelty are particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general view of a drier assembly in accordance with our present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the central heat ing core or mandrel, removed.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sections on the lines 33 and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view particularly showing the heat return deflector, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the steel supporting bases for the drier assembly.

In accordance with our present invention as now embodied in our standardized drier constructions, the drier consists essentially of an outer rotary shell 1 and an internal hollow core or hot mandrel 2 preferably extending the full length of the shell and rotating therewith. Both shell and mandrel are made in sections for convenience of shipment or replacement or substitution of parts.

As here shown, each shell section is pro vided with a circumferential tire 3, which tires run on suitable rollers on the supports for the drier. Where the supporting foundation takes the form of the metal bases 4 and 5 shown in these drawings, the bearings for the tires 3 are presented by a pair of spaced oppositely disposed rollers 6 mounted on the steel bases. One or both of the bases, here shown as base 5, may be provided with end bearings rolls 7 to take up the thrust of the drier resultant from its inclination. These bases are preferably trestles or open frames, footed as shown, and of a design to afford a firm and ,stable foundation for the drier. The rollers 6 in addition ,to their function of providing a the tires 3 lend themselves to the mobility of the drier by serving as ground wheels when the steel bases are upended and moved as wheeled trucks from place to place.

With such bases we are able to'provide a direct drive for the drier, if desired. To this end, one of the steel bases, here shown as base 4, serves as the mount for an electric motor M, the shaft 8 of which carries a sprocket 9 which through a chain 10 drives a sprocket 11 on one of the drier shell 'sections. Obviously, however, our drier may be otherwise driven, as by means of an enclosedgear reducing train or by chain and sprocket from a line shaft in certain assemblies of a more or less permanent nature.

As previously stated, the shell and the mandrel are both of sectional form, the adjacent sections of the shell being provided with circumferential flanges 12 by means of which they may be detachably fastened together in endwise assembly.

The core or mandrel sections are telescopically fitted within one another, and the entire core is suspended within the shell to rotate therewith by means of a plurality of spring suspension members 13 which are designed to overcome the effects of expansion and contraction. As detailed in Fig. 3, these suspension members 13 each comprise a footed plate 14 curved to correspond to the curvature of the mandrel and bifurc'ated to receive the reduced end of the suspension member itself, which member is formed as a threaded stem hinged to the plate 14: as at 15 and extended through the drier shell, as indicated at 16. Confined between a nut 17 on the outer end of said stem and a footed plate 18 carried by said stem and curved to conform to the curvature of the outer face of the drier shell is a spring19. By this construction we are 'able automatically to take up changes due to expansion and contraction .of the mandrel so that at all times and under all conditions the mandrel is properly supported within the drier shell.

The drier may be either oil or gas fired. As here shown, it is oil fired by means of a burner nozzle 20 discharging directly into the firing end of the mandrel 2.

Similarly, the drier may exhaust into an independent exhaust chamber connecting with any suitable flue, or directly into the.

atmosphere, or where contamination of the material being dried by the products of combustion is not a consideration, the exhaust heat. may be returned through the drier with resultant increase of drying efliciency. For this purpose, we may detachably mount over the exhaust end of the mandrel 2 a baflie or deflector 21 which is shaped to provide a curved rearwardly-defiecting surface efi'ective to return the exhaust heat back through the drier towards the firing end thereof.

This baffle 21 is suspended within the drier in any suitable manner, as by the three point-suspension clips 22, and its action is to reverse the direction of flow of the heat,

as indicated diagrammatically by the arrows in Fig. 5.

Our experiments show that by'returning the heat through the drier we not only in.- crease the drying efliciency but also the return heat serves to carry off at the firing or intake end of the drier any vapors given off from the more or less wet material being fed into the drier atsaid intake end.

For certain classes of work, however, as in construction work where it is necessary to dry the materials entering 'into the mix, as for example concrete, or Where, as in cold weather, it is necessary to introduce heat into such mixtures, we may remove the deflector 21 and pass the exhaust heat directly into a separate mixing or heating machine.

In operation, the flame and the products of combustion are projected from the burner far vinto the mandrel, the mandrel being heated by the direct contact of the projected flame, and by reason of conductivity of the metal employed in the mandrel, the heat as applied is uniformly distributed through the material being dried.

In order to keep the material in its travel in direct contact with the hot surface of the mandrel, the mandrel is provided with longitudinally extending heat-radiating ribs 23, and the shell is provided interiorly thereof with a plurality of lifting flanges 24 which lift the material being dried and cascade it onto the hot mandrel.

By avoiding the necessity for building concrete or other foundations of a permanent nature, our drier eliminates any problem of installation, andmakes changes of location simple, easy and quick. In changing position, the rollers 6 serve as ground wheels for the bases 4 and 5 permitting said bases to be up-ended and used as wheeled trucks. I

The spring suspension 13 of the mandrel within the shell enables us to overcome the effects of expansion and contraction, as well as providing a simple and conveniently accessible support for the mandrel within the shell.

The detachable deflector 21 permits the exhaust heat from the mandrel to be returned through the drier with resultant increase in drying efficiency, and the self-contained unit drive furnishes at once both a practical drive as well as a convenient foundational support for one-; end of the drier.

Various modifications in structure and assembly may obviously be resorted to within the spirit and scope of our invention, as defined by the appended claims.

What we therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable drier equipment, comprising arotary shell, having a tire, and an independent shell support having tire support- 0 ing rolls exposed above the upper face of the support and providing ground wheels when the support is inverted.

2. In a portable drier equipment including a rotatable shell, a pair of portable bases for rotatably supporting said shell, a sprocket on said shell adjacent the shell bearin for one of said supports, a motor mounte on said support and having a sprocket drive projecting in the plane of said shell sprocket, and a chain connection for driving the said shell sprocket.

3. In a drier of the class described, a rotatable shell,'a hollow conductive mandrel extending through said shell and rotating therewith, and a plurality of spring suspension-members supportlng said mandrel within said shell, each member comprising a threaded stem engaged at one end with said mandrel and at its other end projecting through and be 0nd said shell, a spring confined about sai stem between the outer end thereof and said shell, and means on the outer end of said stem for varying the tension of said sprin 4. In a drier or the class described, a rotatable shell, a hollow conductive mandrel extending through said shell and rotating therewith, and a plurality of spring suspension members supportin said mandrel within said shell, each mem er comprising a footed plate exteriorly fastened to the mandrel, a threaded stem connected with said plate and extending through and beyond said shell, a nut on the outer end of said stem, a footed plate on said stem and bearing against the outer face of said shell, and a spring confined about said stem between said nut and said last-named plate.

5. In a portable drier equipment, a rotatable shell, and an independent shell-drive and supporting base carrying a self-contained drive unit and a pair of rolls which in the assembled position of the base support the shell but which provide ground wheels when the drier is disassembled and the base inverted.

6. Drier equipment comprising a rotary shell, and a hollow conductive mandrel extending through the shell and rotatable therewith, a pair of spaced tires on the shell, a pair ofindependent shell supports having supporting rolls for said tires normally exposed above the upper faces of the supports and providing ground wheels when the supports are inverted, a motor carried by one of the shell supports, and drivin connections from said motor to said shel 7. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells, suspension members connecting said shells, said members secured at their inner ends to the inner shell and having their outer ends set in said outer shell, and means tensioning said suspension members and automatically ellective to take up the radial expansion and contraction movements of the inner shell relative to the outer shell.

8. In a drier, inner and outer shells spaced from each other, rods set through said outer shell and secured at their inner ends to said inner shell for supporting said shells in spaced relation, resilient members associated with said rods and automatically compensative to the efi'ects of expansion and contraction in said inner shell, and means for adjusting the tension of said resilient members.

9. In a drier, spaced inner and outer shells defining a drying chamber, means for projecting drying heat into one end of said inner shell, means for rotating said outer shell, and means for both suspending said inner shell within said outer shell and for causing said inner shell to rotate in unison with said outer shell comprising rods set through said outer shell and flexibly connected to the inner-shell, and resilient members associated with said rods and automatically compensative to the eflects of expansion and contraction in said inner shell.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signares WILLIAM A. HARTY.

FRANK W. MOORE. 

